What sort of “age-appropriate beverages” are best drunk while watching Over The Garden Wall? 

If you are someone who is already familiar with the short series Over The Garden Wall; welcome friends. If you are among those unfamiliar with this cult classic cartoon, I consider it the highest privilege to introduce you to this autumnal masterpiece. Not too many years ago, I was unaware of Over The Garden Wall, when some friends invited me around on a dark October evening for a seasonally inspired screening. I went for the friendship, warm cider, and cozy autumn vibes; fully expecting not to enjoy the series. I left changed and can still remember how the looming yellow moon hung in the dark sky and how the crisp night breeze nipped at my cheeks as I headed home from their place well past my usual bedtime.

My friend’s screening became an annual event that I very much looked forward to, but sadly have missed the last two years due to illness and then moving six hundred miles away. While I haven’t been able to enjoy Over The Garden Wall with my mates, it hasn’t stopped me from continuing the annual tradition on my own and watching in solitude. While this is absolutely a great series to share with friends, it’s just as enjoyable alone – or with a special beverage to serve as companion. This begs the question: what sort of “age-appropriate beverages” are best drunk while watching Over The Garden Wall? 

This is a great series to watch in the days leading up to Halloween, as Halloween is a major plot-point, but the plot doesn’t entirely revolve around Halloween. Instead, it delivers on all the autumnal vibes and gives haunting whispers of spooky season energy. Since this series encompasses a whole season, rather than dwelling on one specific element of that season, I think this is an excellent opportunity to leave ‘pumpkin spice’ at the door and invite other fall flavors into play. (Surely, the residents of Pottsfield will appreciate us for laying off the pumpkin…) So, rather than going all the way to P for pumpkin, let’s start at the beginning (generally the best place to start) of the alphabet instead with A for apple; and here’s hoping we don’t find any worms inside. My first, instinctual choice for an autumnal wine to pair with Over The Garden Wall is a spiced apple wine or french style cidre. These are often available at smaller, local, vineyards on the East Coast and in the Midwest, so I urge you to check out a place near you. A personal favorite for me is produced by Threadbare, out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Threadbare produces both cidres and meads. While I’d argue that just about any of their offerings would pair up nicely with Over The Garden Wall, my personal preferred pairing has to be their Farmhouse cider. Both sweet and tart, this masterfully crafted cider offers tastes of vanilla and baking spices without feeling as though it’s been too heavily spiced or mulled. It drinks more like a wine than an American style cider–and that’s personally what I want in this pairing. 

If red wine is more your speed, never fear, young pilgrim! If you’ve got money burning a hole in your pocket, Del Dotto The Beast Cabernet Sauvignon is the way to go. While in the universe of Over The Garden Wall, The Beast might be something to fear, there’s nothing scary about this wine–except maybe the price tag. It’s a really big, bold Napa Cab. Yes, we know I’m a sucker for a big Cabernet Sauvignon, so there’s obviously a level of bias. But, dudes, this wine is bordering on perfection in the opinion of the pros. With oaky notes of chocolate, dark fruits, and smoke, this is an ideal pairing for some of the more dimly lit, foreboding scenes of Over The Garden Wall. 

If, like me, you don’t have the cash to drop on The Beast, there’s still a beastly option available on a budget. Folly of The Beast offers a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay each at roughly $16 a bottle. The Chardonnay is especially exciting to me, as it’s a more buttery and oaky Chardonnay with notes of vanilla, butter, green apples, and pear. A perfect white wine for a fall feel! If you ignore the fish-tail on the bottle and focus on the name, it still seems a fitting pair for an evening spent lost in the woods with Wirt and Gregory.

If you’ve got Champagne taste but are working with a potatoes and molasses budget, I’d recommend a Sokol Blosser Bluebird Cuvée Sparkling wine. At roughly $30 a bottle, this sparkling wine may serve as a cheeky nod to Beatrice, who mostly eats dirt and wouldn’t appreciate the nuances of this bubbly. With notes of pear, green apple, lemon curd, and yeasty brioche, this sparkling wine is reminiscent of Champagne but hails from Oregon. In my humble opinion, every day is a reason to celebrate, so you never really need a reason to pop a cork on some bubbles. As Beatrice says, the world isn’t really a nice place. But that doesn’t mean we should give up and give in. Instead, we’ve got to grasp at every modicum of joy that we have within our reach; when happiness and good times are lacking, we must strive to create our own. So why not pop a cork and pour some sparkling nectar in celebration of watching Over The Garden Wall! There’s no more appropriate beverage for celebration than a good bubbly. That’s a rock fact. 

As for me, I think I’ll actually be pouring Two EE’s Winery CranApple wine. And why (yes, why) am I choosing this wine over any of the excellent suggestions I offered above–especially when I’m such a fiend for sparkling wines and big reds?  It’s an odd pick for me, I know. There’s no tongue-in-cheek reference to the media I’m pairing this wine with. There’s no artwork on the bottle’s label that reminds me of Over The Garden Wall. There’s no subtle reference in the show that makes this wine make sense. But hear me out: this wine is both tart and sweet. It balances the light with the dark. It offers notes of apple and cranberry; two quintessential fall flavors. But, in my mind, apples remind me of the beginning of fall when there’s still plenty of sunshine and warm days that can be spent at the orchard with loved ones without needing to wear a coat. Cranberries remind me of the darker days of autumn; when temperatures drop and winter holidays are creeping around the corner. It’s the balance of this wine that makes me want to pair it with Over The Garden Wall. It’s the sweet with the tart, the light with the dark, and the moments that cause laughter with the moments that bring tears. This is the kind of pairing that could pluck at a pair of heartstrings: ideally enjoyed with the lights off, a candle or two lit, in a cozy room with a cozy blanket, while the television screen glows, a frog serenades you with his romantic baritone, and you take in the masterpiece that is Over The Garden Wall.